Disclaimer: what's new, it's always the same
The whine of the laser pistol was audible and increasing in pitch and volume. The setting was being raised from a mere stun to a deadly level of energy. A shot from the pistol now, at this close range would mean certain death. The Titans remained frozen in horror. They stared at Terra, her body lying motionless on the floor. Her eyes fluttered, indicating that she was still alive. They stared at the black glove gripping the pistol, poised to fire on them if necessary. They stared at Robin, cold in his eyes as he regarded the four Titans.
The Titans stood there, shell-shocked. Robin said again, "If you don't do exactly what I tell you, I will kill you all."
As they continued to stare at him, Raven was the first to speak. "What do you want us to do?"
Robin remained where he was, unmoving. Suddenly, the hum of the door was heard. All four of them turned around to watch the door open. As sunlight flooded in, a figure formed in the light and began to grow larger. A familiar and cold voice said, "Excellent work, Robin. You've done what I haven't been able to do for quite some time. You've brought the Titans to their knees." Slade's masked appeared out of the figure. His sole eye conveyed a coolness and a definite sense of victory. "I've waited a long time for this moment, and I carried it out through one of your own members."
"Why are you doing this?" Cyborg asked.
Slade looked at them. His eyes were now only secretive and enigmatic. "I'm not going to carry out my plan by myself. I'm going to need a failsafe so that I don't get caught while trying to steal something for my master plan."
"And just what is this master plan?" Star spoke. The Titans were silent as they waited for Slade's answer. A noise emanated from Slade that they had never heard before.
A low rumble turned into a maniacal laugh. The Titans looked at him in shock and horror. As he spoke through his laugh, he said, "Do you really expect me to tell you what I'm planning to do?" The Titans were silent as they knew the answer to the question. Slade said, "In time, I may tell you what I am planning. All I will tell you now is my plan for you."
"For us?" It was Beast Boy this time. "What do you mean for us?" He looked at the rest of them. "We're never going to help you."
Slade chuckled. "That's what you think." He pulled out a laser pistol of his own. And his was clearly set to kill. He pointed it directly at Terra's head. She had started to stir and had tried to get up. Slade grabbed the back of her collar and yanked her up. He pushed the pistol into her temple. Beast Boy started for Slade, but before he could move two feet, Robin pushed his own laser pistol into Beast Boy's face. Slade said, "This is the consequence of you not following my orders. If any of you disobey me, I'll kill the Titan who you are closest to." He looked Beast Boy directly in the eye, and was met with pain and fear in Beast Boy's eyes. "And for you, I think that that person would be the person who I'm about to shoot." He shoved Terra to the floor and motioned for Robin to back off.
BB rushed to Terra and pulled her up. "Are you okay?"
Still groggy, Terra only managed to say "I'm fine" before slipping partially out of consciousness again. BB looked at her temple and saw a mark where the pistol had been pressed.
He looked up at Slade, and with anger in his voice, said, "How can you treat another human being like this?" As Slade was silent in response, BB in return yelled, "HOW CAN YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF!"
Silence followed momentarily, until Slade said, "You're assuming that I feel anything when I do things like this. I don't. My humanity has been gone for years. And it's impossible to regain it."
The Titans were silent in voice, but active in thought. He isn't even human, thought Beast Boy. He could be even more evil than my father, thought Raven. He'd kill us all and not give it a second thought, notioned Cyborg. Starfire was the only one who had a hopeful thought at this moment. She thought, There must still be something human inside of him.
After the silence reigned for several seconds, Slade said, "Let's move somewhere more comfortable. It's time for your briefing."
"What briefing?" asked Terra groggily.
"Your mission for Slade, of course." It was the first time Robin had spoken since he had nearly shot them. He had a smug smile on his face.
Unable to contain his emotion, Cyborg rushed at Robin. Before Robin could even react, a fist had found itself in Robin's face. "You BASTARD!" Cyborg yelled. "You betrayed us! And for what?" He was on top of Robin and repeatedly punching him in the face. "Money? Prestige?" Power!" Before Cyborg's assault could do anything serious to Robin, Slade put his pistol at the back of Cyborg's head.
"That's enough, Cyborg," commanded Slade. Cyborg reluctantly stopped pummeling Robin. "While I don't want to tell you my plan, I must fill you in on some of the details."
"Why is that?" Raven asked.
"It's as I said before, Raven. I have a plan for you as well. And it's time I filled you in."
The Titans were seated in the main living area. Slade was standing near the large screen, to point out the essential things to the Titans. The five Titans were sitting on the large couch and Robin was sitting on the table behind them. The briefing had just begun, and Slade was beginning to talk.
"The target of this assignment is a chronoton displacement device." A blueprint of a building appeared on the screen. "This is the building it is being kept in. It is in the Wayne Enterprises building on Bayside Avenue." The virtual blueprint of the building zoomed in on one of the upper floors, showing a few rooms on the inside of the building. There were red dots that were blinking in areas that appeared to be doorways. "The red dots that you see are security guards. You'll need to get past them to get into the main room on the floor. This is where the device is being kept." The camera zoomed in even further to show only one room on the building. Nothing was visible in it. "The main room is protected by a tritanium casing, making scanning inside the room impossible. Under normal circumstances, it would make your comms unusable as well, but I've been able to invent a type of comm that is hardened to all types of interferences."
"And why are we stealing this particular piece of equipment?" Cyborg asked. All of the Titans moved their eyes back to Slade.
His answer came in his typical, enigmatic tone. "That's for me to know. Now, this strike can't be conducted tonight because the building is running its security test. The alarms will be hyperstimulated. Any attack on the building tonight will be over in a matter of seconds. We carry out the attack tomorrow."
"Wait a minute." Starfire was the one to speak this time. "How do you know all of these things?" All of the Titans waited again for an answer that never came.
Instead of an answer, Slade replied, "You will not be staying here tonight. This tower is now under my control and will be used strictly for mission briefings and prep. You will stay in an area that I own. For now, we will rest, for if you are tired tomorrow, you will surely fail."
"And what happens then?" Raven asked.
"Then whoever is responsible for the failure, the person who is close to them till die." That shut the Titans up. They knew that Slade wasn't joking. And it wasn't their lives on the line. It was the lives of their friends that were in danger.
It was oddly quiet for an afternoon in Jump City. It was almost the same as the night before they received the image from Slade. Cars were quiet, there was no yelling at gas station, and even the birds and waves were nearly silent. The Wayne Enterprise building was business as usual. The security guards were doing their rounds, the receptionists were being their usual cheerful selves, and the executives were being their typical snobby selves.
The Titans entered the main entryway. As they looked through the reception area, they saw three guards standing near the elevator. A receptionist glanced up and saw them. She said, "Can I help you?"
Robin stepped forward and said, "We're the Teen Titans. We have an appointment with Mr. Caruse, the executive-in-charge of this building."
The receptionist tapped several keys on her keyboard. After looking at her computer monitor for a few seconds, she looked up at them and said, "Yes, I see your appointment here on file." She stood up and pointed toward the elevator. "Take the elevator to the 34th floor, the top floor, go down the hall to you right, and his office is at the end of the hallway."
Robin looked down at the elevator, then said to the receptionist, "Thank you." The Titans moved form the desk and approached the elevator.
One of the guards moved from his position and walked towards them. He asked, "Can I help you?"
This time, Cyborg said, "We have an appointment with Mr. Caruse. On the 34th floor."
The guard took a moment, the names and his memory registering themselves, then said, "Oh yes. He told me to expect you. I'll need to accompany you up to the floor, because the floors in this building can only be reached if you have an elevator key." He clicked the button that had the arrow pointing up and waited for the elevator to come down. When the doors opened, the six Titans and the guard stepped inside. The guard put his key into the lock and, while pressing the 34 button, turned the key. The elevator started to move upwards. "We should be up there in a few min- Aah!" The guard fell forward and Cyborg moved his fist back down to his side.
Robin pulled out some Birdarangs to make sure that they were in good working order. He put them back in his belt, then tapped his ear, activating his comm to Slade. "We're in."
Next on Revelation: The Titans continue to carry out crimes for Slade as more pieces of the puzzle fall together. Chapter Six – Crimes For The Enemy.